


Living Dead Girls

by owlmoose



Category: Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Awakening
Genre: Community: trope_bingo, Gen, Presumed Dead, Truth or Dare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-08
Updated: 2013-04-08
Packaged: 2017-12-07 22:06:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/753601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlmoose/pseuds/owlmoose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A game of truth or dare turns unexpectedly serious.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Living Dead Girls

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Sigrun Fan Week on Tumblr, inspired by the Trope Bingo prompt "presumed dead + truth or dare". A bit of musing on the Grey Wardens versus the Legion of the Dead.

Bethany slammed the door behind her, then leaned back against it, breathing hard as Sigrun giggled. "I can't believe you pulled that off!"

Bethany turned to look at her friend. "Let me tell you, it wasn't easy. I'm pretty sure Nathaniel heard me rooting around in there, which is why I ran back. But--" she straightened up, then held out her hand, Nathaniel's best dagger resting in her palm -- "I have it."

"Good job," said Sigrun, taking the dagger and pulling it from the leather sheath, admiring the edges as they gleamed in the lamplight. She whistled. "Gorgeous forge work. Almost up to dwarven standards. No wonder it's his favorite." She sheathed the blade and stuck it through her belt. "Now it's your turn. I suppose you're going to dare me to put it back without him noticing."

Bethany shook her head. "Too easy. No, I pick truth."

"All righty then." Sigrun sat down on her bed while Bethany settled on the floor between their bunks, next to the half-empty bottle of wine they were sharing -- nicking it from the cellar was the first dare Bethany had suggested, and Sigrun had been happy to comply. "Do your worst."

"Is there anyone waiting for you in Orzammar?" Bethany drew her knees up beneath her chin. "Anyone who misses you, who hopes you might come home some day?"

"Nope," Sigrun said. "I'm dead, remember? There was a funeral and everything."

Bethany folded her arms around her legs, hugging them to her. "But that was just a symbolic funeral. They know you aren't actually dead."

Sigrun shook her head. "It's symbolic, but not in the way you mean it. In Orzammar's eyes, we really are dead. If we keep telling ourselves 'oh, but it's just symbolic, my life is still there, waiting for me,' it kind of invalidates the whole point, you know? Then we're back to hoping we'll survive, and, well." She shrugged. "It's a lot harder to throw yourself into hopeless battles if you want to survive."

"We do it," Bethany pointed out. She picked up the bottle and scooted back against the bed. "Seems like nearly ever damn day that we go up against impossible odds. And becoming a Warden is just as surely a death sentence, isn't it?" She snorted, then took a long pull from the wine bottle. It was sweet in her mouth but burned all the way down. "No one ever threw me a funeral, but they might as well have."

"At least your family writes." Sigrun looked toward Bethany's nightstand, and Bethany's eyes followed, drawn to the small pile of letters from her mother, full of chatty news about Garrett, and his friends, and the new estate he was planning to buy her. News of a home that wasn't her home anymore, and now it never would be. 

"I almost rather she wouldn't," she muttered, then took another drink.

The room was silent for a moment, until Sigrun jumped down from the bed and lifted the bottle out of Bethany's hand. "Well! For what's supposed to be a fun game, that got serious really quick." Bethany glanced up at Sigrun and saw her sympathetic smile, and she let out a bit of a chuckle. "I think we've both had our fill of truth for this round."

Bethany nodded, then held out her hand for Sigrun to help pull her off the floor. "I agree. Which makes it my turn, and I pick a double dare. Shall we see if we can get the dagger back in Nathaniel's quarters without him noticing?"

"Sounds like a plan." Sigrun pulled the dagger from her belt and flipped it around in the air. "You create a distraction, and I'll take it from there." She set the bottle of wine back on the floor and led the way, Bethany more than happy to follow.


End file.
